SOUTH AFRICA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM UNIVERSITY VuvuzelaOnline - Who stole my Wits cheese?:

Thursday, 17 May 2007

WITS University has been hit by 30 to 40 incidents of theft and burglary between January and April, according to the Hillbrow police.

The university falls within the SA Police Services’ Hillbrow precinct.
olice Services’ Hillbrow precinct.

The most recent burglaries were at the Department of Architecture on East Campus. In the past week the department has been hit three times.

On Monday night there was a break-in at the fifth-year studios on the top floor of the John Moffat building.

Inspector Joseph Sigasa of the Hillbrow Police Station was called to campus on Tuesday at around 12pm. 'We checked on how entry was gained and we took fingerprints,' he said.

'The problem is that many people have access to the building and apparently the cameras outside are not working and there are no cameras inside.'

The Director of Campus Control, Rob Kemp, said: 'Security in the building is currently being reviewed. A 24-hour security guard has been deployed to patrol the building and its surrounds and we are in the process of installing panic buttons in strategic areas so that students who are working are able to alert security should they feel uncomfortable or threatened.

'Plans for the upgrading of the CCTV system within the building have been

in progress and the new system will be implemented shortly," said Kemp, whose department is responsible for security at Wits.

At the Moffat building, thieves broke the bolts on at least three of the studio doors.

They stole a bar fridge, a bottle of tequila, noodles and cheese from a studio that final-year student Stephen Reid shares with two other students.

"I came down to the studios from Barnato Hall at around 10pm to get some cheese because I was craving a toasted cheese sandwich - but they had made off with my cheese as well."

The studio of another final-year student, Ross Esselen, was also broken into.

The thieves stole a box of mixed juice, two-minute noodles and left behind two computers, and external hard-drive, a printer, fridge and a microwave.

A staff member of the department who had a laptop and flat-screen monitor stolen on Friday last week around midday. The thieves broke the lock on the door.

A printer was also stolen last week from the first floor of the administration offices of the Architecture Department.

"There are too may incidents [being reported from Wits], and what surprises me is that they steal while there is security. I think it’s an inside job," said Constable Detective J Seobela of the Hillbrow Police Station.

"Access to the building is controlled by an ICAM system and it is therefore probable that the criminal swiped a staff or student card in order to gain access or was given access to the building by a student or staff member," said Kemp. "Most of what is stolen are laptops and computers.

Detective Seobela said the police had made progress in about 10 cases and in one case a suspect had been arrested in Sun City.

In March this year three men were arrested in connection with a theft on campus but were released.